OH, WHAT A PARADE!!!!!!!!

UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!!!!  Beth and I left this morning at 5:30 to catch the 6:22 R2 Septa train out of Newark, Delaware to Philadelphia to watch the Parade of the Century.  Oh my God, was the 25 year wait for this event worth it!!!  I've never seen so many people in one place in my life.  They say the guestimization is somewhere around 2,000,000 people!  Unreal is all I can say.  To see so many people in red Phillies gear was just a beautiful thing.  One of the coolest parts of the day was when Mayor Michael Nutter was a passenger in a beautiful black SUV and Beth noticed him and waived and he looked right at her and waived back.  He seemed like a real person, not a phony politician.

The trip back to Delaware was a whole other story.  WOW!!!  The subway was beyond belief.  Ever hear of the old saying "stuffed like a can of sardines?"  We get on the train, which was the same R2 we took down and Newark, where the car was parked, was supposed to be the last stop.  Wilmington was the third to last stop on the route, but that is where this train stopped.  We had to take a bus from Wilmington to the Newark Transit Depot that took an hour and 15 minutes, then another bus from the Depot to the Neward Train Station.  Whew, I am tired!!! 

There was no way I was missing this event.  It's been 25 years since Philadelphia last held a championship parade (1983 76ers) and 28 years since the last world series championship (1980).  Back then we thought parades were an every year event, kind of like the Mummer's Parade.  Twenty-five years later, we found out that obviously wasn't the case.  For all those that were amongst our sea of red, I'm sure you had the time of your lives.  For those of you that didn't, you have no idea what you missed.

I dunno but 2 million people, a sea of red, getting waved to by the mayor, celebrating your teams victory for the first time in 25 years, having the time of your life...it all just sounds so dull and boring if you ask me.....LOL....Obviously, I'm kidding.

It sounds like you had a blast!! Did you get any up close and personal pics of the players by chance? I know nothing about sports or how this all works as you can tell but I'm sure you're the envy of many who would have given anything to be there today. They're really guesstimating 2 million people though? Holy crud that's just insane!

Thanks for sharing with us.

I was there today too with my aprnets and my 5 year old who i picked up early from school so she could be there. It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have never seen that many people im my life. i have never seen that many stumbling falling down passing out drunk people at 2 pm in my life. Despite all teh drunks - today was a day that all races were getting along adn high fiving one another. I didnt see any fights, all i saw was love. its amazing to see the city get along like that. i have to download the 100 pics i took and see how they came. if i got any good ones ill post some for you all to see.

Hey Andy,
So glad you could experience such a grand tribute as a sometime suffering fan who is so proud. It aint easy to win these things so when it happens it is important to show you care and display the red. Hey getting outta there was worse then getting in and out of the apple harvest fest during the pilgrimage last October. LOL.
We all know about losing and winning, but it's that winning part that can live in you forever. We can all work on the losing part staying with us just as long.
See ya tomorrow,

Dennis

Hey there, I was down in the city as well.  My son and I tried to take a Regional Rail from Langhorne, but they were suspending service from that station because all the trains were full before they got there, as we were trying to get on after 10:00 a.m.  Sooooo, we decided to drive into the city.  We got off I-95 at Allegheny and drove across to Broad.  Took Braod to Temple's Liacouris Center and parked in the parking garage there.  Then, we got on the subway at Temple's campus.  What an adventure.  Drunks on the subway at 12:30 in the afternoon.  Talk about up close and personal. 

We went down to the stadiums and stood in the middle of Broad Street right at Phillies Way, where the parade turned into the Sports Complex.  What a riot.  It was like crazy with people in the trees, on the traffic light poles, even on top of the Port-o-Potties.  The cops just kept chasing them down and a few minutes later, people would climb back up.  We had a blast!!!

My son and I were thrilled to be able to go down.  The weather was perfect.  We were also able to be on the first subway back up Broad Street, getting up close and personal again with a ton of people.  My son lives in Queens, New York, and he said he never saw a subway car packed with so many people before.  Thank God I took a shower and used my antiperspirant.  LOL

It was the best birthday present I could have received a day early. 

Hugs,
Trish

oh what a parade!